Easy
by SyCoalaIX
Summary: Hinata x Kakashi. Just two people finding comfort in one another, as far as that can go. Slight AU. A light M.
1. Rhythm

A/N: I'm avoiding doing what I'm actually supposed to be doing. Enjoy.

1: Rhythm

It happened easily. They'd always been separate, going in different circles, sometimes they would brush past each other: In the grocery store, the book store. Always very public. Never intimate. Still there was something similar about them, especially as she got older.

Hinata walked through the gates of Konoha. Her three students bumping ahead. She watched them, and felt pride. She never thought she'd be a good teacher. She had never been the most talented Nin, but in some sense that helped her. It gave her perspective. She gave out the encouragement and patience, she'd been starved of in her formative years.

After she'd treated her students to ramen, a tradition she'd adopted from Naruto, she headed home. It was dark. The streetlights shone like small, ineffective suns. She hugged her hands to her body. The late fall was cool, and it was made cooler by the fact she had returned from the south. And she would go home, to her apartment, and be colder there. She considered getting a cat, but she'd always been more of a dog person, and the landlord wouldn't allow it.

Kakashi walked from the opposite direction, his nose buried in a book. He passed by her without looking up. He was aware of her though. He was aware of his surroundings, always. She stopped walking. He stopped, then started walking after a moment.

"Kakashi." She said. Her voice was as soft as always, but had grown clearer, less shaky.

Kakashi turned around. "Yo."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just walking."

"Could I walk with you?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. He searched her eyes. He recognized the look. Deep, oceanic, sadness. "If you can keep up."

He turned and kept walking. Hinata had to jog to catch up. She walked by his side, a few steps behind. He kept his nose in his book. They walked together. Tuned into one and other. It wasn't clear who was leading and who was following, at some point. They were just moving together.

They ended up at the memorial.

Kakashi stopped. He closed his book. Hinata looked at the stone. She looked at Sasuke's name, engraved on it; third from the bottom. Naruto had fought so hard to get his friend's name on the stone. Some part of Hinata hated Sasuke for dying, for giving himself like that. If he hadn't, maybe Sakura and Naruto wouldn't have closed out the world and clung to each other, like they had. She stopped herself. Her bitterness was unbecoming. She should be happy there was any love in the world, persisting through all the death, violence, suffering.

Kakashi had moved on. He was a few yards ahead of her. She caught up.

This went on for a while. If Hinata couldn't sleep, or was out late, and she happened to cross paths with the wandering Nin, she would walk with him. He would walk with her. And then either of them would get sent on a mission, and they wouldn't for a couple weeks, up to a month. When it did, Hinata felt like something was vaguely missing from her person, like when you have a tie around your wrist for a while, and take it off.

Hinata rolled over in bed. It was 1 a.m.. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept through the night. She'd ran into Sakura with her daughter, Rose, at the grocery store. Rose was one-year-old. She had her father's eyes. They seemed so happy. Maybe that was all the happy the world could handle.

Hinata stretched up. The curtains on her window fluttered. She got out of bed and dressed. She put her hair up in a bun and pulled on yesterday's clothes. On a whim she put on mascara and eyeliner. She'd started wearing makeup recently. She never understood it, but she liked the way people looked at her when she did. She thought it made her look more as she felt. Plus they stopped looking at her like a child, like a doll, like a feather, like something made out of glass. She closed the lid of her makeup and set it on her dresser.

She headed out onto the town. She thought she might run into him.

"Hinata!"

She whirled around. Kiba. He was out with his guys. Drunk. He approached her and pulled her into a bear hug. It surprised her. She felt a calmness melt over her at the warm familiarity.

"Kiba," She said.

"Feels like I haven't seen you in forever. Have you gotten taller?" He had that drunk slur on his voice.

She smiled. "No."

He put his hand on the top of her head, and measured her height against his chest.

"I think you're just slouching," she said.

Kiba frowned. "You should join us, the night's just getting started."

She looked over to the group behind him. Four guys, two with girls.

"I think I'm alright."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm not really feeling up to it."

"Okay. Well if you change your mind I'll be at the Frog's Tongue." He set his hand on her head, before heading to rejoin his group. He waved back at her, once he was further down... Called, "You should totally change your mind."

She lifted her hand in response. She wandered the streets, but didn't come across anyone else. She thought she might go train. She headed to the fields, where she trained, half-heartedly. She remembered Kiba's face, and she wished he had forced her to go with. It had been awhile. She was shy, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy connecting with a friend. Even if he was in a sea of strangers, at the Frog's Tongue. The Frog's Tongue. Her nose wrinkled up. She'd only been in there once, and it had stunk, and been loud. She decided to go.

It was under some street shops. She walked down concrete steps, and pushed open the redwood door. She scanned the place. She didn't see Kiba, or any of his friends. She sat at the bar. She ordered a water. She felt someone walk behind her.

"Well this is different from our usual." Kakashi took the stool next to her. He smiled, shutting his one, visible eye.

"I didn't know you were here."

"I was in the bathroom." He ordered more sake. Hinata assumed it was more, considering he already smelt of it. He looked to her. "How are you enjoying teaching?"

"It's alright."

"Is that just water?"

"Yes. I didn't bring my wallet. I wasn't planning on coming here."

"So why are you here?"

"I was supposed to catch up with some friends."

"They're not here?"

"No. Seems they moved on."

"Well I don't have any friends here either." The bartender gave Kakashi his order. "Here, I'll share."

"Thank you."

They sipped their drinks. Hinata watched him carefully, as she felt the alcohol start to affect her. The internal glow. She watched him intently, and recalled Naruto trying to catch Kakashi with his mask down. That was a long time ago. She had the perfect opportunity now. All to herself. She tried, but couldn't seem to catch him with his mask down. "Why doesn't your mask have a mouth hole? Wouldn't that make things easier?"

He had felt her starring. It made him think there was something in his hair, at first, but he'd realized her game. It was a game a lot of women played. "Perhaps, but maybe a little less like how I like it."

"I see. You're too cool for it. One of my students is like that. He wore a bandanna over his mouth, but at least it's not secured around his face; when he wants to eat lunch, he just kind of shoves it under."

Kakashi smiled. "Yes one of the rewards of teaching is watching your students be idiots."

Hinata giggled. She covered her mouth, as she did.

He set his cup down. "To be honest I never saw you as a teacher."

She watched his hand. "Neither did I."

"If it means anything, I think Naruto is an idiot for not accepting you onto the ANBU."

Hinata sipped her drink. "I'm sure he has his reasons. And the fact that I didn't fight harder to be on the ANBU probably proves it."

"On the contrary, it shows a respect for authority, which is necessary for the ANBU. Naruto just doesn't have any, so he doesn't see that."

"I just. I was tired of fighting, you know. I tried so hard in the academy, and after. I was always fighting to keep up with my peers. I just ran out of it at some point, the fight."

"Well I couldn't tell."

"Don't lie to me." Hinata said. She caught his eye. She didn't want him, of all people, to baby her. To cushion any blows. To hold back.

"I'm not lying. I have no reason to. As a child, and still now, you seem quite effortless."

She knew he meant it as a compliment.

"A lot of Nin try too hard to seem ferocious or intimidating. I admire that about you. Not a lot of people have the grace to be themselves."

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"You gonna return the compliment?"

She thought for a moment.

"Well don't think so long."

"I admire your strength of character. I admire that you never tear others down. Your patience. I admire how humble you are."

His voice lowered. "You could have just told me my mask was cool, and mysterious."

"I don't like it."

"Ouch."

"I just gave you a bunch of heartfelt compliments, and that's what you care about?"

"I'm a shallow man."

"No you're not."

They're eyes met again. The gaze sustained itself, until his dropped to her lips, and back up. A bunch of rowdy guys came clattering through the door. They were celebrating, all circled around a single man. He must have won. Something.

"We should get out of here." Kakashi drained his liquor.

"Why? We can take them." She hiccupped.

"Yes, but maybe we shouldn't." He rose. "We're not supposed to be the bigger person."

She considered this. She stood up. Her head felt light, and her stomach felt warm. They headed toward the door. He put his hand on her mid-back. It grounded her.

"Hey, pretty lady." One of the men shouted. He was heavy set. Watery blue eyes, and a peach-fuzz head. "Why don't you ditch your man, and come hang out with us? I just won a whole bunch of money across the street, and I need something good to spend it on." He leered at her.

They ignored them. Hinata watched them in her peripheral.

"Oh come on. I'll make it worth your while. One hour with me and you can buy yourself something nice. I got a fat stack." He held up a hand of money. Two missions worth. "With your name on it."

Hinata stopped. "No thanks."

"No?" The man stood up.

"No."

Kakashi stepped in. "She's not a whore. There's plenty around here. You should know assuming a woman is a whore is the least effective seduction tactic."

"If you have enough money, every woman's a whore."

"Well I guess you don't have enough money." Hinata said. She tuned and marched out and up into the street. The men at the table appeared stunned. Kakashi followed her out.

A slight sleet fell. "Are you okay?" Kakashi said.

"I've had to deal with worse."

"That's not what I asked."

She felt startled and sick. Disturbed. "I'll be fine." She said. She shook her head. Disposed of any remnants of the last conversation. That man did not deserve to take up any space in her head.

"Okay," Kakashi said.

They wandered off together. Following some unknown draw. He watched her. Her eyes were trained forward. He wanted her to look at him. "Hinata," He said. She looked to him expectantly. He actually felt embarrassed. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. When he didn't have anything to say. He stepped closer. He reached and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. He wondered how long her hair was. He hadn't seen her hair down in a long time. It made heat flush in his body. He imagined that hair fanned out on his pillow.

He ran his thumb across her jaw, absently. She wasn't naive, as he stared into her eyes. In fact, it seemed like she knew something he didn't. He lowered his face to hers. Paused about an inch away from her mouth. Their breath looked like smoke in the cold air. He kept waiting for her to pull away. She didn't. Heat swirled between them.

Easily, he closed the distance between their mouths. He gave a soft closed mouth kiss, that made his heart almost stop. He pulled back to look at her face. Her eyes were hooded. A light pink flushed her cheeks.

He fell to her again. Capturing her mouth with his. At some point is mask had come down. She hadn't noticed. Drawing her closer into his body, until every curve pressed into his hard chest. He sighed away from the kiss, buried his face in the crook of her neck. He breathed her in. She smelt subtly floral. He planted a kiss on her shoulder, and straightened. He watched her face, and returned his mask to its resting place. "We shouldn't."

"Why not?" She whispered it.

He stopped. He, didn't have an answer… He just felt like he shouldn't. At one time he was her superior. That must be the reason. Maybe it was the age difference. How he hadn't actually been with a real woman in some time. But she was right. They were both willing adults. _Why not?_

"I don't know," he said. He had his hands on her shoulders. Gave his gaze to the sky. She followed it. "It's really starting to come down. We should get going." He lowered his mouth close to her ear. The moment felt like an eternity. "Come home with me." His breath made her shudder. She just nodded.

She thought it might be all she could manage. He nodded, and broke from her. The cold hit her, seeming so much more substantial. He took her hand, and it dissipated. It somehow felt more intimate, than the occurrence of the last few moments. He looked back at her. "Or have you changed your mind?" He smiled at her.

She shook her head. His hand felt rough, and warm in hers. She blushed as she imagined it roaming elsewhere. They walked to his place, through the snow. The lanterns in the street seemed to glow warmer. Her mind was clear and still. No nerves. No butterflies. It was refreshing. Easy.

X

* * *

A/N: So I haven't written for fanfic in a hot minute. This is supposed to be a break, so I'm not worrying too much about editing. Hope that doesn't deter. It's just a heads up. I might update one of these days, if you care to follow.

Also I realize there may be stretches in character, however I'm imagining them in a scope beyond the show. An AU, of sorts. I tried not to stretch them outside of what I think they're capable of, but please let me know what you think. Comments are always appreciated.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Harder

A/N: What do you mean it's been four months? Thank you for all the kind attentions (reviews, follows, faves, ect.) and now.. for part 2…

2: Harder

No nerves. No butterflies.

They ended up at his place; the third floor of a walk up apartment. She followed him up the concrete steps. He kept her hand in his the whole way up. She looked down to the street, at the light dusting of snow.

He stopped in front of the door. She heard a rattle of keys, like a song bird, almost. She watched his hand turn the key and push the door open.

She followed him in. He let her pass, and he shut the door behind her. The quiet intensified from there, as the outside world was muffled into nothing. He left the light off. Moonlight and streetlight filtered in through the blinds of the bachelor apartment. She noticed the stacks of books next to the bed. Otherwise the place was tidy. And it smelt of him. She hadn't really registered it was his scent until she was in it like she was. It was all him. Light, like fresh air, but with heavier notes, distinctively masculine.

She walked further into the room.

"Do you want anything? I can make tea," he offered.

He was giving her an out. She didn't want tea. In fact, it was the last thing she could imagine wanting at the moment. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm okay."

He had to ask. "Have you ever done anything like this before?"

"No."

He watched her, and opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what.

"I'm supposed to be married by now." She said it more to herself, than to him.

He shook his head. "You're not supposed to be anything-

"It's part of my duty, of who I am. My family. It's tradition to be married before." She met his gaze.

"If I didn't know better, it kind of sounds like you're asking me to marry you."

Her hand flew up over her mouth.

"Relax. I'm just teasing." He stepped closer to her. He put his hands on her shoulder, and smiled from behind his mask. He opened his eye, and watched her. "You're sure this is what you want?"

She nodded her head. She reached and pulled down the mask from over his face. She traced his jawline with her finger. It all felt so surreal. Maybe it was the encouraging influence of alcohol. She kissed his face, his jaw. She heard his breath catch as she trailed her lips down his neck. Her hands settled on his chest. She could feel his heart.

He took the side of her face and brought it up to kiss her. It was slow and deep, in a way that sent shivers down her spine and got a flush staining her face. Her brain couldn't make anything coherent out of the situation. He pulled back and peeled his shirt off, then tugged at the hem of her's. She lifted her arms to aid him. And they were skin on skin. After that, everything softened around the edges, blurring as she moved with him and against him.

Somewhere along the line his touches turned desperate and borderline feral. She reveled in it. As together, they conjured chills all the way to the flames of hell.

By the time they were through, the sunrise was bubbling up from the horizon. His profile was backlit, as he faced the ceiling. She returned from the bathroom, dawning one of his t-shirts. It was soft cotton, the kind that isn't too clingy. She thought that she'd never worn anything so comfortable. Expensive silks couldn't hold a candle.

She got under the covers, and laid so she faced his shadowed form. He shifted to face her. Their noses almost touching. She couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. "I never would have expected," he trailed off. He wrapped his hand over her arm, and murmured, "Turn around." She did and blinked into the dark, unsure, until she felt arms close around her waist, and the breath of his sigh as he pulled her into him.

It was warm. Almost uncomfortably so. Almost. She could feel his breathing slow. She could feel his energy flowing clear. It was soothing, then like a cool pool she'd waded into. She let her eyes close and her breathing fell into time with his. And she succumbed to a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Kakashi's alarm went off at 8. Hinata started awake. She sat up, clutching the blanket to her chest. Regarded the alarm clock and hit the elongated button on the top of it. She poked at it. The noise stopped. She looked over to her side, to Kakashi who was on his stomach, undisturbed. Limbs sprawled, lolling out of dark blue sheets, his back bare and pale. She noticed the few scars. Several of them; disappearing down his sides, some shallow, some deep. One by his shoulder blades that looked like a stab wound. Scars were just what happened if you were good enough to survive. She had one or two herself. He made her proud to have them. It made her want to reach out and touch one. She got as so far as to flex one of her fingers, before the alarm blared next to her. She tried to get the alarm to turn off.

Clearly she had just managed to snooze it the first time around. She held the device in her hands. She cursed it. There were about a half dozen buttons of varying sizes. And none of them seemed to do anything. It hit her that this was exactly how she'd always felt, as a child, and sometime even now, like there was an alarm going off in her head that no one else could hear and she couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Except this alarm wasn't in her head, and the sound was very real. It reverberated off the walls, the tile floors. Why did it seem like it was getting louder? Kakashi shifted, and reached over her and pressed the button down for a few seconds. She could feel the heat off his body, and subconsciously leant into it.

"Thanks," she said.

"Good morning." He smiled in her face. His voice was low and scratchy.

Hinata smiled. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. "Morning."

He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but he just said. "Aren't you going to be late?"

She looked at the clock. For the amount of time she'd been holding it, she hadn't registered the time. 9:15. Her students had the day off, but she was still expected at the academy for the whole slew of paperwork that followed missions. "Won't you be late too?"

He laid back, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm always late, it's an inherent feature of my character. I think it's rather charming." He turned to flash a smile at her. "Go take a shower." He raised an arm and pointed to the bathroom. "And do me a favour and use up all the hot water. It'll give me more of an excuse for my students."

"What would you tell them?"

His eyes softened. "I'd say something along the lines of getting distracted by the beauty of the snow glittering on the tree branches."

Hinata covered her mouth. It wasn't out of shame. She was laughing at him.

"Go take your shower. Better hurry before I change my mind and beat you to it."

Hinata wandered back down to the entrance of the apartment. Her feet hit the cool tile. She closed herself in the bathroom. She turned on the buzzing white light. She looked at herself in the mirror, brushed her hair behind her ears. Everything looked the same, but it felt different. Maybe it was the sight soreness, or the touch of a hangover. She pulled the t-shirt over her head. And almost fell over when she saw it, them.

Her face flushed bright red. It all felt like a dream, but the marks on her chest and shoulder assured her it wasn't. Little "love-bites" she'd heard Ino call them. On her shoulder, her chest, her… inner thigh. She put her hands over her entire face to collect herself. At least they were easy to hide. She would be the only one that had to know.

As she turned the shower on she wondered if he'd done that on purpose.

She washed quickly. There was only one bar of soap in the shower. She foamed it in her hands. She'd wash her hair later. She dried herself with the only towel. And redressed. Her clothes felt crusty and smelt sour like the bar they'd come from. And she felt like there wasn't any point to showering if she was just going to have to go home and change anyway.

She got out of the bathroom; stepped out in a cloud of steam. Kakashi wasn't anywhere to be seen. She held onto her arm. She didn't feel abandoned, as she stood alone in his apartment. It felt like he trusted her.

* * *

He was gone over the next couple days. She assumed he got called off somewhere. Which was just the way it was.

She spent the days keeping up with her students. They were progressing, each in their own way at their own pace, but she was proud.

She spent the nights alone in her apartment. She didn't feel the urge to wander out on one of her late night walks. She sat on her bad, watching the back of a discarded book on her nightstand, with a cup of tea growing cold next to it.

She got out of bed and closed herself into her own bathroom. She raised the hem of her shirt. The marks persisted, through faded. She touched them. His mouth had been right there. And there, she touched. Long enough to leave a mark. It had been about million other places too. With no marks, that she could see reflected back at her in the mirror, anyway.

She closed off the light, and returned to bed. She put the pillow over her head. It was harder to be alone than it was before.

* * *

On the third day, Naruto called her into the office. He was stood at his desk, resting on the palms of his hands. He looked like he'd been there all night. Bags sagged under his eyes. There was empty take out on his desk. He looked restless. His jaw was tight and his eyes were hard.

"Is everything alright?" Hinata asked. He looked her in the eye. There was a time when that would make all kinds of alarms bells go off. Instead she just felt mild concern, for him.

"I have reason to believe Sasuke it still alive."

Hinata didn't know what to say to that. She just blinked at him. "Why are you telling me?"

"You're one of our year. You knew him."

"Not really."

"You care about me."

"Of course."

"We need to bring him back."

"How do you know he's alive?"

"Well, you see, I actually need someone to confirm that. It's just a rumor. Sakura says we need a visual from a Leaf Nin before I can do anything else."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I need someone I trust to go find him. I trust you, Hinata."

She watched him. He didn't trust her enough to be ANBU. "I don't understand."

"You're really the only one who knows that I know and that I'm taking it seriously. You're familiar with his signature and you know his patterns. You don't have to fight him, in fact I don't even want you making contact with him. Just see if it is really him."

"What about my students?"

"We'll have someone cover." He waved that off. "This is of the highest priority."

"Why me?"

"Why you? You have to give yourself some credit. Of course it's you."

"When would I leave?"

"You'd leave as soon as possible. It's a top secret mission. You'll be n your own to avoid detection, unless you request back-up."

"I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you."

She turned to leave.

"Oh, and Hinata?"

"Yes."

"Prove yourself here and I'll reconsider your ANBU status."

She bowed. "Thank you, Hokage."

Naruto laughed. "Please don't do that."

"S-sorry." She chewed her lip. She couldn't believe she just stammered.

"Just call me Naruto, like you always have. Nothing's changed. Not really."

Maybe he was right.

Hinata nodded and left. She went down the hall and back out into the city. The cold air blew into her back and fanned her hair. It sent a shudder right down her spine.

X

A/N: Oh hot damn. Is that a plot? I guess we'll find out... Let me know what u think? Love and light. Until next time~


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